Volunteering & Volunteer Students

Trickle-down economics" and "trickle-down theory," is a term used in political rhetoricto classify economic policies perceived to benefit the wealthy and then "trickle-down" to the middle and lower classes. The theory states that if the top income earners invest more into the business infrastructure and equity markets, it will in turn lead to more goods at lower prices, and create more jobs for middle and lower class individuals. This sentiment is captured in John F. Kennedy's argument, "a rising tide floats all boats". Proponents argue economic growth flows down from the top to the bottom, indirectly benefiting those who do not directly benefit from the policy changes. However, others have argued that "trickle-down" policies generally do not work,^[1] and that the trickle-down effect might be very slim.

OK, before I write anything I just have to say that I don't think I'm going to comment on blog entries anymore, unless it's a really short comment, because usually I have something lengthy to say about what you wrote. So I will probably just respond to your entries through my entries.

I am so sorry about what happened with your mother. And yes, I have had times when I thought about the possibility of divorce, especially last week (long story, might post it later). The thing is, when adults do things that aren't characteristically "mature," as in when they cry or break down or don't act their age, it kind of scares us, because we're kids and we depend on them to be stronger than us. I guess it's an over-expectation, because a lot of the time I think adulthood just hits you in the face. Think about it. You turn 26, or 28 or 31, you get married, you pop out a baby and BAM! There goes your carefree days. Now you have to do what's "right" because otherwise you'll be a developmentally challenged freak. Although this doesn't necessarily pertain to your mother exactly, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

And you're right. The pool party was a flop, maybe more of a flop than I had imagined, even though I didn't really raise my hopes for it or anything. I can't believe only about 30 people showed up! When Jordan and I were giving out raffle tickets at the door (guess with who?--Samantha!), a particular group of people walked in. I recognized them from Capo; they were the kind of supercilious (haha), condescending people who have inflated egos and a distorted perception of themselves, usually more positive than what other people see them as. Anyway, as they walked by, one of them was like "That's the party!?" which I have to admit was annoying, but it was the truth! There was barely anyone there.

I guess the only person who was really mad about the turnout at the party was Samantha, of all people. I had to hang out with her at the door when we were doing raffle tickets because she would not go away. As Jordan and I were walking to the gate, she caught up with us and was like, "Hey, Tammy said I could help you." We said, "Um ... we're good, we don't need any help," but she kept repeating the same thing over and over, until we finally got tired and just let her be with us. As people walked by, she kept doing the most embarrassing things, like jumping up too early and asking people who had already entered for their IDs (a job we assigned to her, to her utmost delight). After about 15 minutes, nobody was coming anymore, so Jordan and I sat back and started talking. We were talking about the music playing overhead on a small speaker next to the bathrooms, and Samantha started blathering on about Green Day and how it had fizzed out (thank you, Ms. State the Obvious). Then all of a sudden she said in the kind of voice people use when they think they have really good gossip, "Do you guys know why Green Day's not popular anymore?" and Jordan and I looked at each other, like, Why does she think we would care? And Sam was like, "Because the lead singer's gay." Which is totally irrelevant to their lack of success anyway. I think their lead singer is bi, but who cares, he has a wife. Then we were just like, OK ... even though we really just wanted to roll our eyes. Then Sterling Heart's lead singer's mom came along with her little sister, who I think Tammy said has Down Syndrome. Jordan and I smiled at them and offered them tickets and they went along their way, and then Samantha turned to us and was like, "What's wrong with her?" and I was like, "Oh, she has Down Syndrome." To which she gave a totally disgusted look and was like, "What's that?" in the most grossed out voice you can imagine. I wanted to slap her. I said very slowly, as if I was speaking to an idiot, "It's ... a ... genetic ... disorder." And she was like, "Oh."

I have to say that Samantha is way more immature than any other ten-year-old I have ever met. Every time somebody we didn't know walked by and we said hi to them, she asked us why we were doing that. Um, what the hell? This sounds mean, but I would explode if she was in COC. This is what I felt like doing at the end of the night: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I feel weird about the whole pool party. And Tammy said we're going to do it again next year, only have our flyers out before school ends. I don't know if that's going to make the turnout any bigger.

Sigh. It's Saturday, the first free day I have had since ... well, it seems like forever. I really want to watch a movie or go shopping--mostly the latter, since I haven't gone shopping in a really long time and I have basically nothing to wear. I'll update later if I have time.

We are coming into the home stretch. There is one more week of school. At my previous school, apart from Sports Day, this meant working them to the bone up until the last lesson. At my current school, in addition to Sports Day, there are other school activities plus the use of a time-honoured tradition, the I-can't-be-arsed-to-teach -you-and-you-can't-be-arsed-to-learn video. Surprising as it may be, this has not severely affected academic results.

For primary schools, it is the last chance to have their school fete and raise a bit of money. At the school where the Unnamed Woman is secretary of the PTA, that was last night. In the pouring rain. Since she is the real mover and shaker on the PTA, she organised almost the whole thing for days upon end. She even bought a load of raffle tickets and put my name on them. Now that was a waste of money. A real waste of money.

Instead of leaving her to do the many other things she was doing, the chairperson of the PTA needed the Unnamed Woman to assist with the draw, by keeping track of who won what, because everything has to be reported to the local government.

I have never ever won anything in a raffle. I still haven't. When the local celebrity stuck his hand down in the middle of a bunch of folded up tickets - we are talking a huge plastic file storage box - he pulled out mine. The top prize. £100! Only I never saw the ticket. The Unnamed Woman unfolded it, looked horrified and to shouts of "fix" quickly shoved it back into box with the hundreds of other tickets. I don't know why they were shouting - I was the one who should have been shouting and didn't even know it until after everything was said and done.

So not only did the Unnamed Woman donated hundreds of hours of time, she also donated the top raffle prize. My £100. I'm not bitter.

So tonight was a disaster, if I ever saw one. You know those movies, books, etc. that depict a sort of naive, relatively disliked person hosting a party with great expectations and then ending up with no one coming? Yeah. That was us tonight, except we didn't expect anybody to come in the first place. Still, I had fun, although that was only because I got to get out of the house and hang out with my good old friends. I was feeling relatively cheery after swimming in the pool at night with everybody (you need a remote control that controls your bodily functions), relaxing in the jacuzzi, and then taking a walk around with everybody, excluding Karen, Nikki, Gabi, and Karmyn (they were a separate group themselves, anyway).

Then bam! When we returned from our walk (it wasn't even close to 10:00 pm yet) my mom was there. Which was already weird, since she never comes an hour early just to pick me up. So I go over there to tell her that I've seen her, and I look through the window and see her crying. Ba-dum tch! (as Michael says) indeed.

Let me tell you why this is a big deal. She never crys. Whenever she has, there was always some incredibly, depressing reason behind it. Everyone thought she was crying because she thought I was missing, but she would have called me, and she hadn't. To be honest, I still don't know the reason for her tears. When I got in the car she was talking on the phone with someone, speaking rapidly in Cantonese. It is during times like these that I wish that I could at least understand Cantonese (instead of only Mandarin), because speaking in a dialect that I don't understand is how my parents keep secrets.

Whenever I ask her about it, she just says, "You're too young to understand. Maybe when you're older, I'll tell you." So I got home, and when I told my dad he just kept coldly repeating, "I know." That's how I've deducted that my mom and my dad got into some kind of huge fight. I went upstairs to ask my brother if he knew anything about it, and he just calmly said, "What? Mom's crying? Oh, I don't know why." He didn't really care (like my dad), but I know my brother, and I know that's just because it hasn't sunk in yet. I'm sure he'll ponder over it tonight. Plus, he isn't the type of person to say anything about anything anyway.

Do you ever have moments when you wonder just how your parents haven't divorced yet?

This was a horrible, sad, and shocking ending to my relatively pleasant evening.

I haven't written an update on Clara for awhile, so there is a lot to catch up on!

As previously discussed, my friend Nienke put me in touch with an American special needs teacher here, Celeste, who then arranged for a young deaf Peruvian women, Karen, to work with Clara.  Finally everyone's schedules coodinated, and they came to Yanapay to visit.  Clara soon figured out that we were discussing her, and she refused to join us, acting unusually shy and hesitant.  Nevertheless, Celeste explained everything to Yuri, and acted as a multi-communication translator, signing to Karen and telling me in English.  Yuri was thrilled with the idea, as was Karen's mom, whose support was also important for this to work.  I was beaming with happiness, as it seemed Clara was finally going to get consistent help.  In the process, I obtained my name in sign - a "d" next to my glasses.  Finally Clara was forced down to join us, the idea was explained to her as best as possible, and she agreed to work with Karen.

On the first day of class, Karen and I sat down with Clara, and Clara already didn't seem very happy.  She kicked me under the table in protest, but we carried on with the lesson.  Karen went through the alphabet in sign, and then seeing that she hadn't brought any materials, I pulled out my flashcards.  She went through each of those, with Clara learning the signs.  She then quizzed Clara, and she remembered nearly all of them.  Not knowing what to do next, I ran to the storeroom to get some drawing materials.  However, when I returned, Clara had run off, and I had no success in coaxing her back.  "Poco a poco" I told Karen, little by little.

The following day, Clara wouldn't even sit down with us to start the lesson.  We tried and tried to persuade her to join us, but no luck.  Eventually, however, as Karen and I stood around not knowing what to do, Clara invited Karen up to the games room.  Great!  Clara is warming up to her teacher!  I thought.  Karen was hesitant, but luckily she went up and joined Clara.  I left them alone, with the hope that Karen would turn it into a learning opportunity.  After about 10 minutes, they came down and went into the art room.  I tried to spy a bit, but mostly gave them their space.  They weren't really working with each other, but working next to each other was a start.

By the following day, Clara would no longer greet me.  I assume it was because I was making her work, and perhaps because she comes to Yanapayto play, to have fun, and to be with other kids.  It is entirely possible that she is in her house all day, as she no longer attends school.  She wouldn't sit down to work with Karen, and I began to think it all might fall apart.  I was away from Yanapay for a few days, and was afraid the lessons be over when I returned. 

Although Clara still wouldn't greet me when I returned, she was proudly sounding out, "I am Clara!"  One of the volunteers had somehow taught her that.  She was also showing that she could sign her name.  I joyfully discovered that Karen had brought 2 of her friends, and they all worked with Clara that day.  It turns out, in my absence, the teachers at Yanapay had explained to Clara that if she wants to continue to come to Yanapay, she has to work with Karen.    I was extremely curious what they were all doing in the classroom, but I left them alone, and they worked for well over an hour.

A few weeks later, Karen started a job, but she had started to go to Clara's house on Sundays for the lessons, which are hopefully continuing.  Last week, again after an absence when I went to Puno and Bolivia, I returned and saw Clara signing with Yuri.  It was not longer gestures and pantomimes, but real signing, which she seemed to be doing it with new found confidence and perhaps even a slight bit more maturity than I had seen before!

I have so many stories about my adventure in East Africa, including a climb up the first stage of Mount Kilimanjaro, seeing lions up close and personal, camping in the middle of the Serengeti with hyenas brushing up against my tent at night, and visiting marketplaces full of local handicrafts. However, one of the most rewarding experiences of my trip was experiencing a completely different culture than my own, becoming the minority, and making a child’s life a little better.

Yes, I will always remember the more tourist excursions that I took while in Africa - who could forget a 6 day safari away from all civilization? However, I think what stays with me more and what impacted me more were the smiling faces of the children at the schools and orphanages I visited. The children were just so happy to see new people and receive care and attention. It’s amazing how one little smile from a child can bring so much joy to you and all those around you. I found the Tanzanian people to be very friendly and welcoming, and happy to share their culture and traditions.

My experience in Tanzania did not leave me. I now have a heart for Africa and one day dream of returning. I also took my experience back with me to the U.S. and headed a campus-wide fundraiser with the international club I was a part of to raise thousands of dollars to build a well in Africa. I saw the need for water while I was in Africa and I did not want to simply go back to the U.S. and forget about what I saw and experienced.

I encourage everyone to go to Africa if at all possible. World Endeavors offers great volunteer opportunities in Tanzania, as well as in Ghana. Whether you are interested in orphanage assistance, teaching children, health care and health education, or community development and women’s assistance programs, the need for volunteers is great and most definitely appreciated. Furthermore, World Endeavors’ Tanzania volunteer programs are located in a region that is absolutely gorgeous. Participants volunteer near Arusha, Tanzania which was definitely one of my favorite areas I visited in Africa. Surrounded by the beautiful, green rolling hills and a breath-taking view of Mount Kilimanjaro, you really feel like you are part of a new and different place.

To learn more about how you can volunteer in Africa visit www.worldendeavors.com or contact World Endeavors by phone (612) 729-3400 or 866-802-9678 (toll free in the USA and Canada) or (+44) 0-808-120-3639 (Toll Free in UK) or by e-mail (info@worldendeavors.com).

so the first week of the training is over and now we're at our respective schools. The training itself was none too exciting, but the people we met and things we did in what little time we had outside of class was pretty awesome. not sure how prepared we are for the teaching though, since the training was a bit hack. my mandarin is terrible too, since i've been told that i have an extremely heavy accent and that they would prefer that i stay in english =/ so yeah. help.

some highlights in the past week would include the last night: sneaking down to the pool/hot springs and getting in after a lot of bargaining (not by me :P), going to the beach after lunch, learning and performing a dance with one of the groups, and just getting to know a bunch of awesome (well, for the most part) people. it's been hella good. now we're gonna actually start teaching. so wish us luck. cuz we're gonna need it.

how're things back in t-dot?

I received this as a comment today and have decided to post it in full as it touches on many themes this blog tries to cover. Most especially it points up the disregard with which those who hold the purse strings treat voluntary organisations. Their cost effectiveness and success are mainly ignored as that success cannot be claimed by those who hold political power.

It is estimated that for every £1 given in grants/funding to a voluntary organisation £9 worth of return is generated.

One Response to “Leith News”

1. c.concerend, on July 10th, 2008 at 8:03 pm Said: Edit Comment

   Hello

   I am writing to you to express concerns over the closure of a residential detox unit based in Leith,Edinburgh.

   http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Closure-of-drug-rehab-centre.4274740.jp

   The closure of a unique drug rehabilitation centre in Leith will ensure that drug related deaths will increase at a staggering rate.

   The Links Project, on Links Place, is the only centre of its kind to offer residential drug rehabilitation and detox services in the Lothians. The new drugs strategy for Scotland which was recently announced is focused on recovery. The Links project has been promoting this in Edinburgh for nearly 14 years and continues to do so.

   However, the centre’s service provider, charity Turning Point Scotland (TPS), has been forced to pull out of funding the service following a less-than-expected allocation from the city council’s health and social care budget.

   The service is now due to close by November. Edinburgh City Council have continually cut funding which has forced this service to run at a considerable deficit. This currently stands at £143,000. TPS has been meeting this deficit from its own financial reserves. Why should a charity have to bail out Edinburgh City Council in order to provide an essential and unique service to help and protect THEIR people with addiciton?

   Leith Labour councillor Gordon Munro said the centre was one of the first victims of the council’s “hidden” cuts in community services. He said: “I’ve seen no evidence that the need for this centre has disappeared, and I fear it won’t be the last third-sector organisation to go this way.”

   However, the City Council and NHS Lothian say they remain committed to providing services that address the needs of people with drug problems, and interim arrangements will be in place for when the Links Project closes. There are presently 465 users waiting for a six-week space in one of the project’s 12 beds at the centre and Edinburgh has an estimated 3500 drug users. Currently the only provision in place is 2 beds at the Ritson clinic (Royal Ed) and are “pouring” money into community detox by upping the number of community detox nurses from 1 to 2! No provision has been put in place to help the people in crisis which this service provides a vital lifeline for.

   This is a horrific and appaling waste of a resource to help people of the Lothians.

   So, how can you help? The Links Project is essential to the communitites that are reached by you, as a media outlet, as you translate all the information for them. The message that this valuable service will be lost needs to be communicated to as much of the population as it can. People need to be aware of what Edinburgh City Council are doing and what effect it will have on them.

   Edinburgh City Council need to be held accountable for what they are about to do. This is not a lost cause, hundreds of local people have already voiced their support against the closure of this service.

   Please spread the word. The Links Project is the only centre available to those in crisis in Edinburgh today. If it closes, the drugs epidemic will continue to spiral out of control, and for those who would have previously accessed it and progressed onto long term rehab projects, there will be no available first stage support. More people will die and at a faster rate than ever before. More people will remain in a spiral of addiction that will force them into crime. More families will be affected, more children will their parents, more parents will lose their children.

   thankyou for your time.

Today the Arizona Office of Tourism announced that they are creating a 15 member council to determine how the state might get the tourism industry to go green.  The council is going to be made up of members from the business community, government officials, and executives form the tourism industry.  Plans are for the council to meet quarterly for a couple of years in order to create a path to guide Arizona towards a more sustainiable future.

Did you know that certifications can be earned for eco-friendly lodging, buildings and organizations?  As a consumer, it's worth checking out.  One such example is the non-profit Green Seal  organization.  Why not utiize products, services, etc., that make an effort towards sustaninability?

Bottom line?  Horray for the addition of another Arizona state Agency to recognize the need to green the state.  After all, Arizona tourism is largely made up of our natural wonders - the beauty of the environment.

OK, so I've been very forgetful.  I forgot to do a special post for Tracie and for Aunt Vickie and Grandma on their donation days.  I will have to make that up to you...  BUT, today is Gail Zimmer's donation day and birthday!  Her donation was for a doll related art project with the kids.  Since I was supposed to be in the jungle now working in Pilcopata, I was going to do that at this time.  However, since that gig fell through, I am carrying my art materials deep into the jungle to Iquitos next week.  When I hook up with a volunteer organization, hopefully in a secluded indegenous community, I will attempt to do that project.  In the mean time, here are some pictures from an outing with the Aldea Yanapay kids.  We hiked just outside of Cusco, and explored a creek and some woods for the afternoon.  The kids loved playing in the water, and many left quite wet, along with a couple unlucky volunteers.

Heading out

Jumping the raging creek

Yuri helping a little one across

Jenni in the water

Marylin

Clara getting ready to cause trouble!

"Mira Profe!" The little ones were amazed by the wonders of nature

Diana playing in the mud

Maria calm and composed as always

Yuri and the kids

Ascending the trecherous hill

Returning from collecting leaves and seeds for future art projects

Descending the trecherous hill

Heading home